Rags to Riches: Local Lower Class Climbs Income Ladder 2nd Best in U.S.

Many parents say that their dream is for their children to have it better and be more successful than they are. In San Mateo County, that dream is a reality.

According to a study published by the New York Times on Monday, the San Francisco area, including San Mateo, San Francisco, Marin, Alameda and Contra Costa counties, is the number two major metro area in the entire United States for climbing the income ladder.

“Where you grow up matters,” Nathaniel Hendren, a Harvard economist, told the New York Times. “There is tremendous variation across the U.S. in the extent to which kids can rise out of poverty.”

Just above the San Francisco area, coming in at number one in the nation, is the San Jose area, including Santa Clara, Santa Cruz and Monterey counties. 

In the San Francisco area, 11 percent of kids raised in the bottom fifth of the income spectrum (under $25K per year), end up in the top fifth as adults (over $107K). According to the study, kids from the San Jose area raised in the 10th percentile end up in the 41st percentile on average as adults. 

Kids raised in an upper income bracket also fare well in San Mateo County, with 31 percent of children reared in the top 20 percent staying there as adults, good enough for 20th overall in the country. 

The major metro area with the least upward mobility in the country is Atlanta, where just four percent of kids raised in the bottom fifth end up in the top fifth. 

The west coast is riddled with major metropolitan areas with climbable income ladders. In addition to San Jose and San Francisco, Sacramento, San Diego, Los Angeles and Seattle all rank in the top nine. Meanwhile, the southeast, with cities, like Miami, Tampa, Baltimore and Atlanta is consistently tougher on kids attempting to improve on their parents' socioeconomic status.

The factors largely consistent in areas with high income mobility, according to the study, are:

• Poor families being well dispersed in mixed-income neighborhoods
• High rate of two-parent households
• Highly rated elementary schools and high schools
• High civic engagement (membership in religious and community groups)